Monday, 23 January 2017

This has to be one of my 10 Desert Island Discs. As near a perfect embodiment of the Punk Rock myth that one could possibly find. The song "Rotten To The Core" simply encapsulates the betrayal us teenagers felt when our favourite Punk legends turned out to be hypocrites of the first order.I don't usually print out lyrics,or even read them, but here goes:

Have you Realised that Rock StarsAlways seem to lie so much?John Lydon once said he caredBut he never really gave a fuckSaid he'd use the money he madeSo that people would have somewhere to goBut now he lives in the USAand Snorts Coke after the Show.

Why is it that Rock StarsAlways seem to lie so much?Joe Strummer once said he cared,but he never really gave a fuckSaid he'd use the money he madeTo set up a radio station to make the Airwaves full of something more than ShitHave you noticed we're still Waiting?

You must realise that Rock StarsAlways seem to lie so muchSome will always tell you that they care,But they don't really give a fuck,Still you suckers don't ever learnThat rock stars deal in money not truthIt's good Business to exploit youJust look at Lydon or Strummer for Proof.

A bit sixth form poetry in style, but the sentiments are spot on.Kids who were my age(13-16) during the Punk Rock explosion from 76 to 78, believed in these traitors.It was more than a rock'n'roll revival for us. It was a rejection of normality,of the bland,the hum drum, of the, to quote Lie-don, "Old Order"; but they just repeated all the same Sex,Drugs and Rock'n'Roll mistakes.It was more than that for us kids.

I remember the disappointment when i heard these liars did drugs, and don't get me started on what a cock Sid Vicious was.The face that launched a thousand clones.

Lydon was full of great soundbytes, but all he wanted was a Future. A healthy bank balance ,some real estate in Chelsea,and live the Rock Star dream in LA! How he managed to make such perfect records like "Metal Box" and "First Issue", I'll never work out. His enormous ego destroyed one of the most perfect groups that ever walked this planet...yes, PiL; not the fucking Sex Pistols! And now he's every middle aged mums favourite cute interviewee, chatting with TV idiots like the hideous Piers Morgan, and the idiotic Graham Norton among many others; "Ah isn't he luvleh?".....er...NO!

The kids who turned into punk sheep didn't escape Rudi P's disdain either, as the information sheet that came with the initial release included the following quote, "There's nothing I find more tedious than the rows of identical painted leather jackets - how moronic".

Now..... "Death Church"; what more can I say? It exists like a savage bee in your inner ear. Its haunted visions are fleshed out in Blinko's creepy black and white drawings that permeate this superb package; and his simple but devastatingly dark and incisive lyrics.

Some bright spark labelled this music "Deathrock", which kinda sells it short as some type of stupid Lesser Black Metal nonsense; its far more intelligent,unique, and downright demented than that.

RP releases seemed to come when Nick was not wasting away in a mental ward, and if anything, his artwork alone, is a prime example of tortured genius; dare I say a punk rock equivalent of Van Gogh?.....or Van Goth (please excuse the dreadful pun)."Three quarters of the world are starving

The rest are dead.

Overdosed on insensitivityNail varnished to crosses"

(1/4 Dead)

Tracklist:

Corpus Christi Side

A1 ¼ Dead A2 Blissful Myth A3 The Psycho Squat A4 Rotten To The Core A5 Poppycock A6 Cosmic Hearse A7 The Cloud Song A8 Vampire State Building A9 Blasphemy Squad A10 When You Are A Martian Church A11 Pig In A Blanket

6 comments:

I believe that martian church related to born again religion? Not sure if that's the truth, i read it years ago when i first bought the album. Love ths album. Blissful myth, poppycock, psycho squat etc

Thanks for the post and the lyrics. Yes, Bono will save the world--with someone else's money. And Michael Stipe lives in a $9 million NYC penthouse and has Mario Batali open his restaurant at odd hours just for him, then doesn't tip tip the staff. Patti Smith is on our side, but I'm hard pressed to name anyone else. Great post.

This Lp blew my mind as a 14 yr old in 1983, Still love it as much today, love the music obviously and the lyrics have such surreal touches /puns and imagery. Always loved the words to Happy Farm and Blasphemy squad - Hairy Whitemouse and the Rubber Arch Bish...

Thanks for the RP posts! This one was my first, and very much like Zeroid, this album blew my mind as a 15yr old in '85. It took me ages to find the EP's (which I did in the late 90's or something) and they blew my mind me again! Loved the music and the surrealistic lyrics. That's precisely the reason why 'Rotten' was never a favourite, the lyrics are too straight in your face, and the song is one of the longest in the album :D That was another quality of the album, the shortness of most of the songs, as you mention in one of the posts. Sometimes I think they took that from Wire (Pink Flag era), even though they sound abolutely different. "Happy Farm", oh those changes of chords and keys that keep following the maze of the lyrics and then... stop! Great band indeed.

Cival Disobedience is good:

“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient allover the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”